CHAPTER IX.ROBBING.
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LOSS of stocks by robbing shows carelessness, or lack of knowledge as to the proper care of bees. Not one strong, healthy stock of bees in a thousand will be robbed, if proper precaution is taken. During a copious yield of honey there is very little danger of robbing. When there is a slack in the yield, the bees will search about for plunder, and if a weak stock is found they will be very likely to attack it.
It is the duty of every intelligent bee keeper to know the condition of his stocks at all times, and if from any cause he has a weak stock, be sure to ascertain the cause of their weakness, and if they are healthy stocks contract the entrances, in accordance with the number of bees to pass. But if they are found to be diseased, remove them. The bee, like the human race, is much better able to defend itself against the attacks of an enemy when there is but one avenue of approach than if there are several.
No refuse honey should be placed in the open air, accessible to all the bees alike, as this would be very likely to create a desire to plunder, and incite robbing.
Never, when a stock is being robbed, change it from one stand to another a few rods distant, to prevent robbing; for this is a very great injury to the stock, as all the bees that have marked the location (at the season when robbing will most likely occur,) will return to the old stand, and be lost. The best remedy, or rather preventative against robbing, is to contract the entrances to the hive. After bees have once commenced robbing, and have been successful in capturing and plundering one stock, they will, as soon as they have secured the honey from that one, attack some other with great impetuosity. Success in plundering renders them very courageous; but if you have contracted the entrances as directed, they will be very likely to meet their match, and learn a good lesson. A little punishment is necessary to teach them their proper place.
I knew one of these old wise-heads—such a one as spoken of in the chapter on "Swarming and Hiving"—to use his familiar logic: "What he didn't know about bees wasn't worth knowing. He didn't want any book larnin' to know how to keep bees; he had allers kept 'em, and his father before him." Well, this Mr. Wiseman found, or thought he had found, that his neighbor's bees were robbing his stock. "Zounds!" says he "I'll fix 'em!" So he goes early in the morning, before the bees are flying, and confines his stock, which he thought was being robbed, by nailing a piece of board closely over each entrance to the hive, so no bees could pass in or out. About sunrise, or a little later, the robber beesbegin to collect on the front of his hive, seeking to gain access. He waits until a quart or more have collected, and then he takes two or three quarts of boiling water, and dashes it upon them. This he continues through that day, and the next, at intervals, as often as there are any bees collected on the front of his hive. During this time he has killed more than a half bushel of bees. The third day he opens his hive, but to his great surprise, no bees appear, and on examination he finds the bees all dead. They had suffocated. Want of air, and the boiling water on the hive, had destroyed them. And to crown all, and to make his loss still more severe, he found it was his bees that were engaged in plundering his stock, and his neighbor's bees had nothing to do with it. The vast number of bees slaughtered with the hot water, so reduced in numbers several of his stocks, that they never recovered, but fell prey to the moth-miller that season. And that was the way he "fixed 'em." There are so many whims and false notions about bees, that great care should be exercised in adopting plans recommended by inexperienced bee keepers, or that class who claim to know everything about bees, yet by their practice show that they know very little.
There is one other plan, aside from contracting the entrance, which will prove successful, but which is a little more trouble to apply. If you find a stock is being robbed, look them over, and be sure that they have a fertile, healthy queen. If the queen is found to be all right, but with few bees, take from this hive two combframes filled with comb, with no eggs or brood, and go to a populous stock and exchange these two combs for two others filled with brood. Select such as have most of the brood sealed over, as you want that which will hatch the quickest. Put these two combs in the hive that is being robbed, fasten up the stock by putting wire cloth over the entrances, giving them air, yet preventing the passage of bees.[5]When you put in the two frames with brood, if you find but little honey in the hive—not enough to last the bees a month or more—put in one frame containing honey. Put on the feeder and carry the hive to a dark and quiet room, and fill the feeder with pure, soft water. Let the bees remain in this room four days; then about one hour before sunset, set them on the old stand, giving them their liberty, with the entrances to the hive contracted—the lower entrance closed entirely and the upper one half closed. Intelligent bee keepers will readily understand why this plan should prove a success. First, the bees that hatch from the brood comb given the weak stock, will be a great encouragement to the few bees in the hive; and in a very few days they will aid in defending the hive against the attacks of robbers. Again—removing the hive from the stand seems to disorganize the robbers, for after they have visited the stand for several days, and find no plunder, they will give up the search in that direction.
[5]It is well to confine the bees when a large number of robbers are inside—a larger number if possible than the swarm itself, for being confined a few days, they will make that hive their home, and aid in defending its stores against other robbers with as much energy as the bees of the original swarm.
[5]It is well to confine the bees when a large number of robbers are inside—a larger number if possible than the swarm itself, for being confined a few days, they will make that hive their home, and aid in defending its stores against other robbers with as much energy as the bees of the original swarm.
Before taking the trouble to remove a hive as here directed, care should be taken to be certain that the bees are being robbed. You can be sure whether it is your own bees or others that are robbing, by sprinkling them with flour as they come from the hive which you suspect is being robbed, and watching your other hives, to see if those you have marked enter them, being very careful that you are not deceived by the dust from some species of blossoms, which adhere to the body of the bee, and might be mistaken for the flour.
Bees when plundering a stock will often keep at their work until dark, some of them being unable to find their hive by reason of the darkness. Honest workers are not found abroad at that time, and by the way, this is a very good test of robbing. In concluding this chapter, I advise again: Know the condition of your stocks at all times. If any have too few bees, contract the entrances in accordance with that number of bees to pass. Preventative is much better than cure in this case.